Knoxville thwarts Fort (03/05/07)

COLDWATER, Ohio - There have been broken hearts aplenty in Fort Recovery this year. All because of the Rangers.

First came volleyball, as New Knoxville eliminated the Indians in the sectional championship in October. Next was boys basketball, as it rallied late to thwart the Tribe's upset bid Friday night.

And Saturday the Rangers did it again, getting a last-second shot from Haley Kruse to send the Division IV No. 6 Fort Recovery girls basketball team home much earlier than it had hoped. The score from Kruse gave New Knoxville, 11th in the voting in the final poll of the season, a 45-43 win in the district championship game at The Palace.

"It was a hard-fought game between two great teams," said FRHS coach Jeff Roessner this morning. "It was like heavyweight fight. Every time somebody would do something well, the other team would counter and comeback."

A five-point lead early in the first quarter was the biggest of the game. So when the Rangers (19-4) went up by four with just 2:48 to go, such an advantage could have seemed insurmountable. But, the Tribe wasn't finished.

Holly Stein hit a couple of foul shots to pull the Indians back within two points. After a miss on the opposite end, Fort Recovery called a timeout with 25.2 seconds left and drew up a play. Nothing came of the play, but Tiff Gaerke drove the lane after an offensive rebound and scored to tied the game with just six seconds remaining..

However, New Knoxville pushed the ball back down the floor, and Kruse hit just her third field goal of the night. Her game-winning bucket came with 1.1 seconds on the clock and, with both teams out of time-outs, the rest of the time ticked away.

A year ago Fort Recovery handed the Rangers their only two losses of the year, beating them once during the regular season and again in the sectional championship. New Knoxville turned the tables this year, handing the then-No. 1 Indians their first loss of the year in January after an 11-0 start and then topping them again Saturday night. The two Tribe losses to their conference rival this season came by a total of just six points.

The Niemeyers were deadly in the district title game for the Rangers, who advance to the regional tournament at Vandalia Butler.

Brook Niemeyer finished 6-of-7 from the field and Alycia Niemeyer was 4-for-5 to lead a 57-percent shooting effort. They each went a perfect 4-for-4 from the foul line for 16 and 12 points respectively.

Alycia Nieymer added two blocks and two steals.

Midwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year Nicole Wright was limited to just six points, but led New Knoxville with six rebounds and five assists.

Seniors Holly Stein and Tiff Gaerke each scored 12 points to power the Indians, whose season finished at 19-4. Stein had seven rebounds and Gaerke and Joanna Snyder each added six as part of a 25-14 advantage on the glass, but Fort Recovery could not overcome its 40-percent effort from the field.

"I'm disappointed fro our seniors. They just played a whale of a game," said Roessner. "We just needed to play make one more play in that game. ... We set our goals pretty high, so the disappointment is big when you lose.

"If you look at this bunch of kids from the time they started as freshman, all the way through, they beat a lot of good teams. ... Now, it didn't turn into championships for us, but these kids have nothing to hang their heads about.

"I'm proud of what they did and what they accomplished. ... They're a pretty special bunch of kids."[[In-content Ad]]